Chapter XXXI: Book 2: The translation, however, is not yet available. It will be

submitted, I hope, on Monday. I also refer to, and beg you to take judicial notice of, an extract from the speech of former Reich Chancellor Brüning in Kiel on 19 May 1931, which is Number Neurath-36 in my Document Book 2. Also to an extract from the speech made by former Reich Foreign Minister Curtius, the successor and friend of Reich Chancellor Stresemann who had died shortly before, to the League of Nations Assembly.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: My Lord, I was telling Herr Von Lüdinghausen that I have got Volume II. I do not know if the Tribunal have the English translation.

THE PRESIDENT: No, I do not think we have. Sir David, have the Prosecution agreed to relevancy, the admissibility of these documents?

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: My Lord, we are not going to make an objection to such short references as have been given so far. Your Lordship will appreciate that I have already stated the position of the Prosecution with regard to the Treaty of Versailles, but as long as it is kept within reasonable bounds as a matter of introduction, I am not taking any formal objection.

THE PRESIDENT: Herr Von Lüdinghausen, the Tribunal has ruled out of evidence a variety of documents which are alleged to show the injustice of the Treaty of Versailles; as the Prosecution have adopted the attitude which they have, the Tribunal will regard these as mere historical documents, but the matter is really irrelevant. The only question is whether the defendants have attempted to overturn the Treaty of Versailles by force. We are not concerned with the justice or injustice.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: No, Mr. President, I did not submit the document in order to criticize the Versailles Treaty. I merely wanted to establish the fact that previous governments, too, had pursued with peaceful means the same aims which my client later pursued as Reich Foreign Minister, so that under his direction, therefore, there was no change whatsoever in the nature and aims of German foreign policy with reference to the Western Powers. That was the reason, and not criticism as such.

THE PRESIDENT: I know, Dr. Von Lüdinghausen, but all the evidence that the defendant has been giving in the last few minutes was criticism of the injustice of the Treaty of Versailles.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Yes, that was his general introduction, but I was only trying to prove the continuity of policy.

[_Turning to the defendant._] What were your own views regarding the continuation of the foreign policy of the Reich with reference to the question which we have just dealt with?

VON NEURATH: It was my view that the solution of the various political problems could be achieved only by peaceful means and step by step. Complete equality for Germany in all fields, in the military field therefore as well, and also the restoration of sovereignty in the entire territory of the Reich and the elimination of any discrimination were prerequisite conditions. But to achieve this was primarily the first task of German foreign policy.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Mr. President, in this connection I should once more like to refer you to the affidavit by Ambassador Prüfer, which is Number Neurath-4 in my document book, and I should like, with the permission of the Tribunal, to quote from this, in order to support the statements just made by the defendant, a part of Paragraph 12:

“Neurath’s policy was one of international understanding and
peace. This policy was not inconsistent with the fact that Herr
Von Neurath also strove for a revision of the severe provisions
of the Versailles Treaty. However, he wanted to bring this about
exclusively by negotiation and in no case by force. All
utterances and directives of his which I as his co-worker ever
heard or saw moved in this direction. The fact that Baron
Neurath considered himself a defender of the peace is perhaps
best illustrated by a statement he made when leaving the Foreign
Office. He declared at that time to a small group of his
colleagues that now war could probably no longer be avoided. He
presumably meant by this that now foreign policy would be
transferred from his hands into those of reckless persons.”

Herr Von Neurath, then you agreed entirely with Hindenburg in absolutely rejecting any use of force for the purpose of achieving this objective, the revision of the Treaty of Versailles; and you considered the attainment of this goal possible and were a determined opponent of any belligerent developments, which you considered the greatest possible misfortune, not only for Germany but for the entire world?

VON NEURATH: Yes. Germany and the whole world were still in the midst of the serious economic crisis which had been caused by the regulations of the Treaty of Versailles. Any new development of belligerency, therefore, could lead only to a great disaster.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: On 2 June 1932, a few days after you had entered your new office as Foreign Minister, the meeting of the so-called Reparations Conference began in Lausanne, and you and the new Reich Chancellor, Von Papen, participated. Will you tell us very briefly what the purpose of that conference was?

VON NEURATH: The reparations imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, which had never been definitely fixed, were now formally to be settled completely, that is, the final sum was to be decided on. This purpose was accomplished.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: At the same time, was there not a meeting of the Disarmament Conference at Geneva?

VON NEURATH: Yes, at almost the same time these negotiations were also taking place.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Mr. President, in this connection, for the purpose of general understanding, I should like to point out that the institution of the Disarmament Conference goes back to a resolution passed by the League of Nations on 25 September 1928, in which the close connection between international security, that is to say, peace among all the European States, and the limitation of armament was emphasized. In this connection, I should like to refer to the text of the resolution passed by the League of Nations, which is Number Neurath-33 in my document book. That is on Page 90 of Document Book 2.

[_Turning to the defendant._] Can you give us a brief account of the course of these disarmament negotiations?

VON NEURATH: Well, naturally it is very difficult to give a short account. The Disarmament Conference had been created by the League of Nations for the purpose of bringing about the disarmament of all nations, which was provided for in Article 8 as an equivalent for the German disarmament which had already been carried out by 1927. The negotiations during this Disarmament Conference were, however, suspended after a short time, despite the objections of the German representatives. The preceding negotiations and this adjournment made it quite clear, even at that time, that those states which had not disarmed were not prepared to carry through their own disarmament in accordance with the standards and methods applied to Germany’s previous disarmament. This fact made it impossible for Germany to accept a resolution which had been proposed to the Disarmament Conference at this time, and the German representative therefore received instructions to declare that Germany would not participate in the work of the Disarmament Conference as long as Germany’s equal right to equal participation in the results of the conference was not recognized.

THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Von Lüdinghausen, shall we adjourn now?

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Yes, Mr. President.

[_A recess was taken._]

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Mr. President, in regard to the question just put and answered, I should like to refer to several documents and ask you to take official notice of them. I am submitting, or have submitted in my Document Book 2, excerpts from the German memorandum of 29 August 1932, in Document Number Neurath-40; excerpts from an interview of Von Neurath with the representative of the Wolff Telegraph Bureau, the official news bureau of the German Reich, in Document Number Neurath-41 of Document